Time For Change
by ScottishLaura
Summary: A Raven/Nero fan fiction, the one you've been waiting for for who knows how long...A joint fan fic with Shadow/ravenswrath, and yes, part of it is based on her live journal story... ENJOY!
1. The Assignment

Raven walked along the long winding corridors of H.I.V.E. It was long past curfew, so all the students were in their rooms. The teachers were all busily preparing lessons for the next few days, the hallways emptied long ago. A security team walked past, not looking sideways at Raven wandering down the hallway. A few moments later, a student hurriedly walked past, looking around nervously. Raven stayed still, just waiting for the student to pass her. The student, an Alpha stream no doubt, rounded a corner. Raven walked around the corner and sprinted silently through the shadows to the turn at the end of the the second corridor. The student looked around again, and Raven stepped out. The student jumped in horror, and turned to run, but not before Raven had put a hand out and grabbed the jumpsuit of the student. He hovered a few feet above the ground, his feet aimlessly trying to run. His feet slowly came to a stop, and he looked up to see the face of Raven. The face of fear. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  
"And what are you doing out of your room after curfew? You know what the punishment for that is." The boy's face glazed over for a moment, no doubt he was remembering the introductory video the Contessa had shown a few years before. A second later he shuddered, and he opened his mouth again.  
"I was just, I mean I-" He just couldn't spit it out. Raven dropped the boy.  
"There's a security team just around the corner. I suggest you run now, or risk getting caught." The boy rolled his eyes. He was too sure of himself.  
"They're not coming, I sent them on a false trail." Raven raised an eyebrow and listened for a moment. There was a clattering of footsteps, and voices. The boys' eyes widened dramatically, and the colour faded from his face. Raven smiled, and the boy took off. He ran faster then he probably ever had, or ever would again. Raven stepped back into the shadows as the guards ran past, and then she continued walking towards her destination. She was walking towards Nero's office when she heard a disturbance to her left. She sighed. She backtracked a few steps and saw the small furry figure of Ms Leon trotting down the corridor.  
"Ms Leon."  
"Raven. You have a meeting with Nero I assume?" Raven nodded.  
"That's where I'm heading, yes." Ms Leon smiled in the only way cats can. She purred.  
"So what do you two actually do at these meetings?" She emphasised the meetings. Raven was taken aback for a moment.  
"Uh, we discuss problems." Silence. Raven realised how wrong that could sound.  
"I mean-" Ms Leon turned around.  
"I get the idea, Raven. Have fun discussing your…problems." Ms Leon ran off.  
"Stupid cats" Raven muttered under her breath. Raven sighed and walked the rest of the way to Nero's office. She took a deep breath, and walked in.

Raven knew as soon as she entered Nero's office that something was up. Something that she was fairly certain she didn't want to know.

"Good evening Natalya." Nero tried and failed to keep the smile off his face. "I have an assignment for you."

"Oh?" Raven tried to keep the nervous look off her face, with a bit more success. Nero smiling while telling her he had an assignment for her was never a good thing. The last time that had happened she had had to supervise a student training exercise to the Arctic.  
"Do I want to know what it is?"

Nero's smile grew bigger.  
"Do you remember Conrad Johnston, Natalya? He graduated a few years ago."Raven frowned.  
"Red hair, green eyes, six feet tall?"Nero nodded.  
"Well, one of his recent operations has been successful, to say the least. Long story short, Conrad Johnston, once a scholarship student, is now very, very rich. He is the newest member of the GLOVE ruling council and wishes, as most new council members do, to show off his new found wealth and power."

"OK..." said Raven, not quite following.

"He is throwing a dinner party, a formal affair of course," Raven was still confused. "Tonight as a matter of fact. I plan to attend."

"Oh" Raven sighed, somewhat relieved. "You want me to come as your bodyguard" Raven allowed herself to relax a little. Big mistake.

"No Natalya, I want you to come as my date." Nero leaned back in his chair, taking in the look of absolute astonishment on Raven's face. He would leave her to her assumptions for a few moments.

Raven opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come. She was sorely tempted to throw a shuriken at Nero's head.

"You and I would know of course, that it wasn't _really _a date." Nero clarified. "It's all for appearances."

"Yes but Max, the rumors. You've heard them all before.," Raven finally found her voice. "This will only make the rumors worse." She insisted.

"The ruling council does like to talk." Nero admitted with a sigh that made Raven think she was getting off the hook. He grinned, and looked straight at her.  
"So it's a good thing I don't particularly like to listen."

"Very well," Raven gave a sigh of defeat. What could she say? Nero was her boss. "What time will we be leaving?"

"Three hours. I suggest you go and start getting ready now." Nero's smile was so big now he looked a bit like the Cheshire Cat. "I have taken the liberty of providing you with some more-_appropriate_-attire. Dismissed."

Raven turned and practically ran from Nero's office. She knew she could take a lot, but this? She didn't know if she could. She closed the door behind her, and she began to panic.


	2. The Dangerous Beginning

**A/N:OK, sorry for the delay in updating, I've been really busy packing for my trip. By the looks of it, this is as mich as I'm going to be able to put in until I get back , so until the 20****th**** of April, I bid you farewell, my followers, fellow author, and anyone else reading this =)**

A few minutes later, Raven stumbled into her quarters. She had run all the way there from Nero's office, feeling like everyone she passed was staring at her, even though she knew there was no way they could know what was going on yet. Nero would never tell them before he would tell her. He wasn't _that _evil. At least she hoped he wasn't. Raven was so busy thinking this over that at first she didn't even notice the dress that was spread across her bed until she went to sit on it. It was black, thankfully, but in Raven's mind, there was nothing else good about it.

She picked it up off the bed and held it out at arm's length, inspecting it. There were no pockets to keep any weapons in, and it was to tight to wear her leather body armor underneath. "Useless," she muttered, bending down and putting it underneath the bed. She knew that if she had to look at it any longer she wouldn't be able to stop herself from ripping it to shreds. Just as she was about to stand back up she noticed something sharp sticking out from the carpet. Two sharp objects actually. A ball of dread slowly formed in the pit of her stomach. Her worst fear. Stilettos.

Nearly three hours later, Raven stood in the middle of her quarters, fully dressed, but not at all ready to go. She cursed loudly in Russian as she tried to take a step forward in the dangerously high black stilettos, only to stumble and fall to her knees. She stayed down, cursing Nero for a minute or two before she even attempted to stand again.

At that moment, her blackbox beeped at the other side of the room. She sighed. Probably Nero wanting to know where she was. Raven took a step towards it, only to fall again. She was forced to crawl on her hands and knees, cursing the entire time, in order to reach it.

"Ah Natalya," Nero's still smiling face greeted her when she flipped it open. "I trust that you are ready to leave and will be in the hanger momentarily." It was not a question.

"Yes, of course Doctor," Raven fought to keep the frustration out of her voice. "I'm on my way." She snapped the blackbox shut, not waiting for his reply. But of course she wasn't on her way. She could barely even stand. She sighed again, and leant her head against the wall. She gazed longingly up at her katanas', which hung, in their sheath, from the foot of her bed. She had sworn never to go anywhere without them again, after the Tokyo safe house incident, but there was no way to conceal them under the dress Nero had provided for her. She stayed motionless for a few minutes longer, before finally realizing there was no possible way she could stall any longer. She looked to the ridiculous shoes.  
"There's also no way I'm getting anywhere in these dumb shoes," she groaned. If there was one thing Raven hated doing, it was admitting defeat. But she saw no other options as she leaned forward and tore the troublesome shoes from her feet, reaching for her favorite pair of combat boots instead.  
"I question Max's sanity sometimes," she muttered as she stood to leave.

Raven had barely taken five steps into the hallway, wearing her combat boots, one stiletto in each hand, when people began to stare. The guys the guys. Colonel Francisco, all of the security guards and technicians, even the normally oblivious Professor Pike. Each turned to look at her as she passed, and she felt their eyes following her even as she was long past them. As she ran, she began to hear the whispers. Every guy she passed pointed her out and whispered to his mate. Unfortunately, she couldn't miss snippets of the converations.

"That dress doesn't leave much to the imagination does it? " one technician said to another.

"Nero certainly has good taste." the second technician answered, though it wasn't clear whether he was talking about the dress or Raven.

"My dreams have come true." one of the security guards sighed dreamily.

"She really would do anything for Nero wouldn't she?" Francisco sighed, although he couldn't say he minded.

Professor Pike's mouth swung open and shut noiselessly.

Worst of all was coming across her young protegee, Wing Fanchu, and his somewhat outspoken friend Otto Malpense just as she was approaching the safety of the hanger bay.

"Don't you two have somewhere to be?" Raven snapped, wishing she could sink through the floor and into the scalding lava. Death sounded marginally more appealing than this. "Like a class, or perhaps watching senior boys water polo with the girls?"

"And miss this once in a lifetime opportunity? Otto asked, elbowing Wing and muttering under his breath, "Say _something_. She's your mentor." Wing struggled to find something to say.

"You look beautiful," Wing breathed, and immediately his face turned red. _Great _Raven thought. _Now even __my own protegee willnever take me seriously again._

"Go," she snapped. "Leave. Now." Otto snickered, but turned to go. Wing, on the other hand, stayed where he was, still in a state of shock.

"Come _on_ Wing, snap out of it," Otto muttered, grabbing his friend's wrist and dragging him down the corridor. "And be _very_ thankful Shelby isn't here." But of course, him being Otto, he had to have one last remark. "Have fun on your date, Raven," he called over his shoulder.

"That kid has no idea how lucky he is," Raven growled as she reached behind her for her twin blades only to feel the thin fabric of her dress. "No idea."

Raven entered the hanger bay, wanting, for the second time that day, to throw something sharp and deadly at Nero's face. She quickly dropped the stilettos by her feet. The thought was just to tempting.

"Natalya!" Even though he had had all day to mentally prepare himself for this moment, no amount of mental visualization could prepare him for the real thing. Quickly regaining his composure he put on a straight face. "I was beginning to worry you were going to stand me up."

"I said I would accompany you, didn't I?" Raven snapped, before remembering who she was talking to. "I don't break my promises."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Nero finally spoke.  
"We're going to have to do something about your shoes. I'm afraid, my dear. As fond as you are of your combat boots, they don't quite work with that particular dress." He smiled slightly. "But we can take care of that on board the Shroud." He held out his arm, which after a few seconds, Raven realized she was supposed to take. She reluctantly reached down and picked up the stilettos before reaching up in a failed attempt to look graceful and elegant.


	3. From Fear to Happiness and Back Again

**A/N: OK, so I'm back from my trip, which means Shadow and I can start working on this again… This is a bit we wrote before, but we decided to keep you in suspense for a while….And yes, I will probably update frequently until we get writes block…again **** so, enjoy this chapter guys!!!)**

Once they were on board the Shroud, Raven lowered herself into a seat, dropping the dreaded stilettos on the seat next to her. Nero took the seat across the aisle from her. They sat in silence until the Shroud had taken off, Nero sitting with a smile on his face.  
"So Natalya." Nero looked into her eyes, a strange and unnerving feeling.  
"What?" She raised an eyebrow and leant back into her seat, making sure Nero was way out of her reach.  
"At this party,"  
"What?" Raven got to her feet.  
"Everyone, is expected to, well, they're expected to dance." Raven immediately tried to think of every way she could kill Nero. In the end, she spat out a series iof death threats in Russian. She took a deep breath and sat down.  
"You waited until after take off before telling me."  
"I figured you might try to escape." Raven rolled her eyes and shrugged.  
"I promised, remember?" Nero smiled evilly.

They sat in silence for quite a long time, until the pilot called down that they

were to land in fifteen minutes.

"I'm going to go and talk to the pilot," said Nero. "You might want to change your shoes."

Raven sighed, pulling off her combat boots and putting the stilettos back on. She could feel the plane slowing down, beginning its landing procedures. In just a few short minutes she would have to face the entire GLOVE ruling council in a dress and stilettos. She was never going to hear the end of that day. Ever. She knew that for sure.

Stepping out of the plane, Raven gripped Nero's arm perhaps tighter than was necessary. They had landed on a private runway behind the main hall, but that was nothing to be surprised about. Landing a plane like the Shroud in a public airport would attract way too much of the wrong kind of attention. Attention meaning Law Enforcement Agencies. Bad News.  
"Are you sure about this Max?" Raven whispered as they entered an ancient gray castle, hidden somewhere in the English countryside where, typically, it was raining. It was not heavy rain, but it was coming thick and fast, so that soon, Raven's hair was damp. She brushed a lock of wet hair away from her face. "I mean, really sure?"  
"It's too late to do anything else." Nero responded, gently reassuring Raven.  
"Max!" Raven was suddenly gripped by fear. They had entered a grand and very old looking ballroom filled with what seemed to be every single member of the GLOVE ruling council. And they were all staring at them as they entered.  
Of course Raven had to choose that exact moment to trip. She still couldn't walk properly in stilettos, and Nero's arm was the only thing keeping her from falling on the floor. However, that did not prevent what happened next. In a panic, Raven turned to head to the back corner of the room, out of sight, when the damp heel of her shoe slipped on the slippery ballroom floor. She started to fall backwards, her head very nearly hitting the wall, when Nero caught her. The members of the GLOVE ruling council began to whisper.  
"It's about time..."

"Always knew this would happen one day..."  
"I figure it's been happening since the day they met..."  
"Come on Natalya," thankfully Nero seemed to have had the same idea about the corner as Raven had. He held her hand gently and led her over, stopping only to talk to Darkdoom.  
"Well," Darkdoom could barely contain his smile. "It's a surprise to see you Natalya. I knew you'd be here, but I didn't think I'd be _seeing _you." He smiled and nodded knowingly. He turned to Nero.  
"Max, I believe this would be the first time you have a date and I don't."  
"The world is coming to an end," Nero joked.  
"So Max," Darkdoom continued. "Have you spoken to our, oh so gracious host yet?" Raven frowned. Darkdoom had made it clear in his words that he obviously did not think much of Johnston, which didn't really make sense. As the supreme ruler of GLOVE, he would have been the one approve Johnston to the council.  
"As a matter of fact, I haven't. Where is Mr. Johnston? It would be rude not to show up to his own party."  
"Oh, he's around here, somewhere." Darkdoom sighed. "I've seen glimpses of him"  
"You mean he hasn't spoken to you?" Nero raised an eyebrow. Darkdoom shook his head.  
"Or anyone really. It was the biggest piece of gossip before you two walked in the door." Darkdoom smiled grimly.  
"Would that, by any chance, be our reclusive host?" Raven nodded in the direction of a tall man with red hair heading towards them. His eyes were fixed on her.  
"That would be him." Darkdoom's voice hardened.  
"Diabolus Darkdoom." Johnston sauntered over to them. "So glad you could make it. Same to you too of course Dr. Nero." During this entire exchange, he didn't once take his eyes off Raven. "And this must be the infamous Raven, world's deadliest assassin." He raised an eyebrow, and took Ravens free hand.  
"That's what they call me," said Raven, suddenly understanding Darkdoom's dislike for the man. She yanked her hand back to her side, and shuffled closer to Nero.  
"So I've heard," Johnston's eyes looked Raven up and down. "So I've heard."  
"Let's dance, Natalya," Nero somewhat forcefully dragged the all too willing Raven off in the direction of the back corner.  
"You couldn't stay and talk to the host for just a few more minutes Nero?" Johnston asked, following them. Darkdoom saw this as his opportunity to get away from the man and quietly slipped away. Johnston stepped towards Raven, and once again grabbed her hand.  
"I do believe we've talked enough." Nero stepped in front of Raven. "Perhaps you should go and talk to some of your other guests, from what I hear, they've hardly seen you." Johnston frowned at Nero, the side of his mouth turning up.  
"Fair enough doctor." Johnston sneered. Dropping Ravens' hand again. She hurriedly pulled it in and behind her back.  
"I'll just have to come by again later." He backed up, craning his neck so he could get one more look at Raven over Nero before turning and heading over to talk to Baron Von Sturm. "Baron," he called. "A moment of your time?"  
Nero led Raven over to the dance floor.

"Care to dance?" Raven nodded and, she stepped a little towards Nero. A new song started. Slow, and romantic. Nero gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and one on her waist, and Raven placed a hand on his back and shoulder. Nero smiled encouragingly, and they began dancing. A few times Raven stumbled, but Nero caught her and set her back on her feet. She always smiled, and after every stumble, she held herself just a little closer to Nero. After they had circled the dance floor together twice, Conrad Johnston returned, his eyes still fixed on Raven.  
"Doctor Nero, would you be kind enough to let me have a dance with your date?" Nero's eyes narrowed, and Raven moved yet closer to Nero.  
"I suppose you may. I wouldn't be rude enough as to refuse our gracious host." Nero turned to Raven. "Raven?" He gently grabbed her hand and offered it to Johnston who grabbed it roughly, and pulled Raven away. Raven turned back to Nero, a pleading look in her eyes. Nero shrugged, and turned his back, disappearing into the crowd. Johnston tightened his grip on Ravens wrist and yanked her further away from Nero. She sighed, and let herself be pulled towards the man. He stopped walking, and placed a hand on Ravens waist. He pulled her close to him, and she tried to pull back, yet, as strong as she was, he was taller, bigger, and therefore, stronger. He grabbed her wrist and placed her hand on his back, and her arm went on his shoulder. They were a strange couple, a 6 foot man, and a fairly short woman, stretching to reach his shoulder. They danced slowly, Raven falling over often, Conrad, grinning like an idiot. After a few songs, Conrad spoke.  
"So, Natalya, may I call you Natalya?" Raven narrowed her eyes.  
"No you may not call me Natalya." Conrad took a step in surprise.  
"So, Raven then. " Conrad looked like he was considering every word. "What kind of stuff do you like doing?" Raven didn't answer, she just prayed with every inch of her existence that Nero was going to come and save her. She looked around for the familiar, tall body and dark suit, but in the crowd, there was no way of telling who was who. Someone tapper her on the shoulder, and she tried to turn around, but Conrad tightened his grip. She twisted, a little bit, and smiled when she saw the familiar figure of Nero. Conrad pulled her back to face him, and he began pulling her away from Nero, but Nero stepped forwards, took Ravens hand from Conrad's shoulder. Conrad opened his mouth to argue, but by the time he had one word out, Raven and Nero were walking into the crowd. Nero and Raven wandered outside, away from the rest of the GLOVE members. The slow dance music that Raven had just finished dancing to could still be heard. As the two of them walked, hand in hand, Raven for the first time, felt a different emotion. She didn't know what it was, and she was still puzzling over it when Nero stopped. He turned to face Raven, with half a smile on his face, half a look of utter concentration. Raven watched his face as he struggled to spit out the words he was looking for.  
"I just wanted to thank you for such a beautiful night." Raven smiled.  
"You asked me to accompany you, and that's what I did." Nero looked at his feet again, and they kept walking, although Raven got the impression he hadn't said what he really wanted to say. She stopped walking, and turned to face him.  
"Max, what is it?" Nero frowned.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I've known you for long enough to know that you're trying to say something, but you cant. What is it?" Nero sighed.  
"Well, I was just thinking, since we're here and you're my date, maybe we should act more like a couple." Raven frowned, and picked up their hands that were still clasped together.  
"I mean, maybe we should," Nero looked to his feet and began to mumble.

"…kiss?" Raven froze. "Just for show, I mean. You don't have to if you don't want to." Raven slowly came back into focus.

"I guess we probably should. For show." Nero nodded. Raven let his hand go, and she took a deep breath. She placed her arms over his shoulders, and leant forwards, Nero doing the same. Their foreheads touched, then their noses, and then they kissed. Raven didn't know what to expect, but when she kissed Nero, she lost all self-control. Nero brought one hand up to her cheek and he began gently running his thumb along her scar. Raven curled her arms around the back of his head, forming a cradle. Inside, people stopped and turned to watch the unexpected kiss between Raven and Nero. All the women "ahhed," and the men shot quizzical looks at each other. Darkdoom broke out into spontaneous applause, and others followed. Outside, the clapping brought Raven back to reality. She froze again. She broke away from Nero and looked, to her horror, to see the entire GLOVE ruling council and their partners watching on, and applauding, She turned back to Nero who looked equally shocked. She grabbed his hand, and they raced off towards somewhere away from everyone else. They didn't get far though. Suddenly, there was an explosion. Raven and Nero were thrown to the ground hard, and only Nero got up. He bent down to Raven. She had blood trickling from her nose, and cuts covering her bare shoulders and back from landing on the shattered glass from the window caused by the explosion. The black fabric of her dress was torn in some places, and she had cuts down most of her left side. There was a huge chunk of skin missing from her calf, grazes all up her arm, and more on her cheek. Nero rolled her to her back and gazed down at her. Her shoes lay on the ground a few feet away from her, and as Nero bent to pick them up, he was suddenly surrounded by people holding SMG's leveled at him. Nero smiled evilly, and called out.

"Do you seriously think I'd leave myself without protection?" He was bluffing of course, but they didn't need to know that.  
"But your bodyguard is unconscious." Only one mercenary had the guts to reply. Nero smiled again.  
"Yes, but, that doesn't mean I'm alone. Look around." All the guards turned around, and Nero ran over to Raven and bundled her up, and ran with her in his arms, back into safety. Nero could hear the footsteps behind him, so he turned into a corridor, and he hid in the shadows, hoping the assailants wouldn't find them. Raven groaned gently in her state of unconsciousness, and Nero placed a hand on her head. She was cold. Really cold. She had lost a lot of blood from her wounds, and she needed medical attention, immediately. Nero looked up at the sound of footsteps. They were heavy, and there was only one pair. Nero had a pretty good idea who was attacking them. He quickly swung around to have his head facing the wall, his back towards the door, and Raven was in a bundle in front of him. The door opened. A light flashed on, and searched systematically around the room. It went over Nero, but then flicked back.  
"Ah, Doctor Nero. It seems I have the pleasure of seeing you again." Nero turned around. "And Raven too! What a lovely surprise!"  
"What do you want, Johnston?"  
"Give me the girl." Nero looked to Raven.  
"Look what you've done! She is seriously injured, and all you care about is having her for yourself!" Conrad grinned.  
"Give me the girl." He repeated himself.

"And what if I don't?"  
"You both become my captives."  
"Then so be it." Conrad nodded.  
"Then so be it. Guards, take them away." A bunch of guards ran into the room, and roughly grabbing Raven from Nero's arms and throwing her to the floor. She groaned, and began to stir. Nero stepped forwards to help her, but the guards swung a baton to his head and knocked him to the ground. He watched as Raven came to, and she sat up, Conrad coming over to her.  
"Look at your pretty face," he said, taking her chin in his hand. "It's all messed up!" Raven turned her head away from him.

"What do you want, Conrad?"  
"Leave Nero, come and stay with me."  
"I'd never stay with you. You are a despicable man."  
"So be it then. Nero and yourself shall remain my prisoners in my castle until you have reconsidered." He took a last look at Raven. "Unless of course you die first that is." Raven narrowed her eyes, and tried to stand up, but she was hit to the ground by a baton. She fell with her head next to Nero's, both of them drifting into unconsciousness. Nero reached out with one hand and took one of Raven's.  
"I will never leave you, Natalya." Raven smiled. Conrad snorted and kicked their hands apart before signaling for the guards to take them. Another hit to the head, and they were passed out on the floor, blood spattered around them. 


	4. The Wake Up Call

**A/N: OK. Yes, I'm sorry, it's another short one. Shadow and I are in the middle of discussing the next bit after what we have so far, and I only put more in because CC begged me to. That and I gave in easily. So don't worry, I will add more soon(ish) so be ready for more!!!**

**-ScottishLaura**

Raven and Nero's limp bodies were thrown in a heap on the floor. Darkdooms' body was thrown to the other side of the cell. A guard walked in and bound Raven's wrists and ankles with metal cuffs, then he moved to Nero, and did the same. He then threaded a chain through the cuffs on Raven's wrists and fastened it to the wall, also doing the same with Nero's. He then kicked Raven and Nero a little bit, just for effect. He moved to Darkdoom, and repeated the process. The guard walked out and locked the door to the dungeon, and place the key on a hook at the far side of the opposite room.  
"Good luck getting out of here." He muttered before leaving the lower area of the dungeon.

Raven and Nero woke inside a cold, grey, foul smelling dungeon. Metal bars kept them enclosed inside a stone room, and metal cuffs and chains kept them away from the bars. Ravens wrists and ankles were cuffed, as were Nero's. They were thrown in a heap at the back end of the cell, and Darkdoom was in another heap at the other side. Raven was awfully pale, more then normal, and she was shivering. Nero sat up and groaned, and for the first time ever, Raven made no move to help him. She huddled herself into a ball, and tried to keep warm. Nero shuffled across to her, and placed one arm over her shoulders. She smiled and let her head drop on his shoulder. Nero gently wrapped his other arm around her, making sure to keep the cold metal of the chains off her skin. Raven's breathing steadied, and she became more relaxed. Soon, she was asleep. Nero smiled. She was even prettier in her sleep. He heard a groan from the direction of Darkdoom. He sat up, rubbing his temples.  
"Nice of you to join us, Diabolous." Darkdoom looked around.  
"Where are we?"  
"In the dungeon of Johnstons' castle most likely."  
"More importantly, why are we here, and why am I chained up?!" Darkdoom yelled a little too loud, and Raven began to stir. Nero shushed him, and he gently moved Raven over to the wall. He took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. He then shuffled as far as he could over towards Darkdoom.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Nero sighed.  
"I was hoping Natalya could help us with that, but that doesn't seem like an option." He turned to face her again quickly.  
"What happened?" Nero frowned.  
"There was an explosion and Raven passed out. Then there were men with SMG's, so I distracted them and ran. Then Johnston caught up with us, and told me that if I didn't give him what he wanted, we would be kept prisoner until we reconsidered." Darkdoom thought about this.  
"And what _did_ he want?" Nero looked at Raven again, then back to Darkdoom. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone else spoke for him.  
"He wanted me." Nero spun to look at Raven again. Her voice was croaky, and she looked deathly pale. Darkdoom immediately frowned.  
"Are you OK?" She nodded.  
"I'll be fine." She shuffled over to where Nero and Darkdoom were sitting.  
"Now, an escape plan."


	5. The Beginning of the Start

**A/N: OK, Another short chapter, but once again, I was begged. KMK, here you go. I will put up a longer one at some point provided Shadow and I can get the plot moving again.**

**Enjoy guys!!!**

**-ScottishLaura**

"No way!" Raven shouted. "No way am I taking any part whatsoever in that!"  
"I fear we have no other choice Natalya. Besides, I don't think Diabolous or I attempting to do that would succeed." Raven smiled.  
"There's a way." Nero shook his head.  
"Not with the amount of time or resources we have available." Raven frowned again.  
"Still, no! I am not going to do that, it won't work! Besides, I don't even know how." Darkdoom smiled.  
"Oh, its easy Raven! Come on, try it with Nero." Raven shook her head.  
"No, no and no again!" Darkdoom stood up.  
"Raven, we need to escape, for all our sakes, and you sitting here arguing with us isn't helping!" Thunder boomed somewhere outside. Everyone looked around. There was a storm brewing outside the castle. The thought was on everyone's minds. That could complicate things if they didn't pull the plan off.  
"Natalya, please. We need to do this to escape." Raven sighed.  
"But I don't think I can do it, and succeed! And what if I fail? Then we're all doomed to staying here, forever." Nero smiled re-assuringly.  
"You wont fail Natalya. I believe in you." Raven wanted to shout.  
"Why does everyone put such high expectations on me?" Nero shook his head.  
"They don't Natalya. You do." Raven looked down at her feet and sighed again.  
"I suppose. So what am I supposed to do again?"  
"When the guard comes, you convince him to let you out, and then you get us out too."  
"Original." Nero raised an eyebrow. Raven held her hands in the air.  
"Sorry. Continue."

"Then we have to sneak out of here. That's the hard bit."

"Just follow the paths and hide in the shadows." Nero smiled.  
"Yes, but Natalya, not everyone is able to sneak around in shadows like you can."  
"Then how _are_ we supposed to get out?" Darkdoom looked to Nero.  
"No. There is no way I'm crawling through sewers or anything like that." Darkdoom grimaced.  
"I think that's our only option." Silence fell, broken only by footsteps. Nero looked at Raven.  
"That's your cue. Good luck." Nero and Darkdoom shuffled back into their corners and looked asleep, while Raven was left on her own in the centre of the room. The guards walked past, looking in on the dungeon. He opened the gate, and called out.  
"You there, I told you not to move last time I came around!" Raven looked down, then back up.  
"But I wanted to ask you something."  
"What do you want?"  
"Can you let us out? Please? I mean, what harm can we do? We have no weapons, I'm losing blood by the second, those two have been slipping in and out of unconsciousness every minute, how are we supposed to do anything!" The guard frowned.  
"I suppose you're right. Tell you what. I'll let you out, and you can get out of here, and leave these other people behind." Raven frowned.  
"But they're my friends. I kinda would like to take them with me." Raven looked up at the guard, a puppy dog look on her face. He smiled.  
"I guess so. Like you said, you cant really do anything, and you'll probably just get caught anyway with all you guys injured, so…" The guard walked over to the door and unlocked it. Raven smiled.  
"Thank you so much!" The guard smiled back.

"No worries. Just hurry up or you'll get caught." Raven nodded, and then shuffled across to Nero and Darkdoom.  
"Could you undo our chains for us? Please?" The guard walked in, and walked in, working on Raven's chains first.

"Thanks." The guard turned his back on Raven for a moment, and Raven stood up and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, and Raven punched him hard in the face. He collapsed onto the floor, and Raven staggered backwards slightly, the lack of blood temporarily knocking her off balance. Her eyes blurred, and she reached for the wall behind her until she could stand properly. Nero stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him, and smiled, before he went to help Darkdoom with his cuffs. After he was done, Darkdoom stood up, and Nero went back over to Raven. She hadn't moved, and Nero placed a hand around her back.  
"Come, Natalya. We must move or someone else will come and check." Raven looked up and nodded. She was suddenly drained of all energy, and she had gone cold again. Darkdoom led the way out, and after 5 minutes of getting them all hopelessly lost, Raven took the lead. She was limping from the wound on her calf, the blood still trickling down her leg every time go straightened her leg. By the time they reached the sewer entry, Raven was a white as a ghost, and ice cold. She kneeled down to open the entry, and she tugged at it, but was unable to move it, even though it was rusty and old, probably about to break off anyway. She released the grill, shivering again, and Nero bent over to her. He pulled his coat off again and wrapped it over her. He then ripped a shred of fabric over his shirt, and tied it around her calf. The blood almost immediately soaked through the fabric, so he pulled another few strips off until it stopped soaking through. Raven shuddered a little and smiled weakly.  
"We need to get going. Quickly." Darkdoom looked down to Raven. "Will she be OK?" Raven pushed herself up.  
"I'll be fine. Let's go."


	6. The Escape to the Capture

After letting Darkdoom pull the grill away, Raven climbed into the sewer first, Nero second, and Darkdoom last, pulling the grill closed behind him. They slowly crawled through what felt like mud, but smelt suspiciously like something unmentionable, they crawled through water, more muddy substances and finally, there was another grill. This one was on a latch, and was easy to get up, so Raven clambered up first, Nero second and Darkdoom last again. Raven stood up and pointed in the direction of the Shroud.  
"If we can get to the Shroud, I can pilot it, and we can make it back to H.I.V.E. or somewhere similar, fast. Nero nodded.

"So what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Raven nodded, and stood up, and she took off running towards the Shroud, the two men following her. They reached the runway, and Raven looked around. There was no one in sight. Johnston clearly still had a lot to learn about how to keep prisoners captive. Raven began to walk out onto the runway when she noticed a small, black square placed on the ground. She looked around and saw another only a metre away from the first. Sure enough, they were everywhere. Every metre, there was another one. Raven looked to the Shroud. It seemed as though Johnston had tried to get inside, but he failed, because there were scratch marks around the doors. When Nero and Darkdoom caught up, Raven pointed out the things on the runway, and then began to carefully cross it. She reached the shroud, opened the door and got the Shroud ready for take off. When Nero and Darkdoom were on board, she turned the Shrouds engines on and attempted something only ever done in theory. A standing start with a Shroud. She pulled as much power to the engines as possible, and then activated the downward thrust engines which gave the Shroud it's extra lift. The engines protested, but then after hovering for a moment, they pushed the Shroud higher and higher, until Raven could safely take some power away from the engines. Raven set the course of the Shroud to H.I.V.E. and set the ship to autopilot. Once she was sure everything was correct, she left the cockpit, and entered the cabin where Nero and Darkdoom were. Before she sat down, she checked all the cargo compartments, even the backup ones hidden in the metal plating on the floor. When she was satisfied no one had gotten into the ship, she sat down. Darkdoom was sitting staring at a wall, lost in thought. Nero was watching Raven, a look of mild amusement on his face.

"Always too cautious, Raven."

"Better safe then sorry." Raven took Nero's coat off.  
"Have your coat back. I've got spare body armour in the cargo." Nero nodded as Raven left to change out of the dress. When she returned, she sat at one of the seats with her leg up. She pulled Nero's hastily made bandages off, and thoroughly cleaned the wound, before covering it with gauze, and bandaging it properly. She winced as she swung her leg down onto the floor and tested her weight on it. When she was satisfied, she walked over to sit next to Nero again.

"Remind me never to go to a party with you ever again." Nero sighed at Raven. He knew that something was most likely going to happen, and yet he still went. He opened his mouth to reply, but smiled instead when he saw Raven fast asleep, her head resting against the wall. He smiled, patted her hand and spoke.  
"I'm sure you don't need reminding my dear, and I'm sure you'll agree next time I ask, anyway." He smiled and stood up, walking towards the cockpit to check on the coordinates he knew were correct, and to find out what the ETA was. As he reached the top of the ladder, he looked back to Raven, and smiled once more.

Nero looked at the coordinates for the location they were going to. He checked them once, making sure they corresponded to the coordinates for H.I.V.E. that he had long since memorised. He nodded, and then changed the screen. The second screen said ETA, 1.32 hours. Nero looked up and out the window for a moment, then looked back down. The ETA had changed. It now said 4.52 hours. Nero frowned. He changed the screen back to the coordinates. They had changed too. Nero frowned harder as he tried to figure out where the coordinates were. It seemed that they were being sent somewhere in the middle of the Australian Desert. Nero activated the keypad and punched the coordinates for H.I.V.E. in. They changed, and then changed back. Nero frowned again. The only explanation for this happening, Nero thought, was that someone had hijacked the ship's communication systems. He realised that the only person likely to have hijacked the Shroud was Johnston. Nero cursed, and he ran out of the cockpit, and down the ladder before realizing that that had been a mistake. He head a gun cock, and a muffled thud. Nero turned around.

"Hello, Doctor Nero. Nice to see you again." Nero narrowed his eyes angrily.

"What do you want, Johnston?" Johnston smiled evilly.

"Oh, I think you know what I want." Nero shook his head.

"You bothered to hijack a Shroud just to convince Raven to leave?" Johnston smiled.

"I can be very persuasive when I want to be." Nero sniggered.

"I can see that." Nero heard a shout of complaint from one of the small cargo areas just behind Johnston.

"That's right, Nero. I have taken the girl and Darkdoom, and you will come with me too. You escaped last time, and you will _not_ escape next time." Nero smiled.

"Oh, I think I can find a way." Johnston frowned and stepped towards Nero. Nero stepped towards him. Johnston clenched a fist behind his back, and he swung a punch at Nero. Nero stepped back, and then swung a punch at Johnston. He missed, and Johnston took advantage of his lack of balance. He grabbed a baton off one of his Mercenaries, and he swung it at Nero. Nero threw an arm up in surprise, and he heard it crunch. Johnston threw the baton down, then threw a punch at Nero's ribs. He connected, then stepped back howling, his hand bleeding.

"Oh, yes, that would be the metal plate in my rib. An unfortunate incident." Nero smiled again, and Johnston picked up the baton, throwing it at Nero's head. It clipped the side of his temple, and Nero staggered to the ground. Johnston towered over him, and Nero tried to pull himself up. Johnston grinned, and kicked Nero in his arm. Nero cried out in pain, and Johnston kicked him in the arm again. Nero rolled to cover his arm, and Johnston kicked him in the back of the head, laughing like a maniac. Nero was pulled to his feet, and the last thing he saw was Raven with a black eye. Her body armour was torn, and there were fresh wounds all over her arms and head. She was trying to force her way through the Mercenaries, and Nero could see that she was about to be beaten down, and he tried to break free. He got about a metre before he felt a searing pain in his arm. He yelled out and fell to the floor, clutching his arm. He saw a boot coming towards his head, and he knew there was no way he could avoid it. He took one last look at Raven, and closed his eyes.


	7. A Plan? Please?

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated for a few months, Shadow and I have been busy and unable to write stuff… And we went on holidays etc.. But anyway, I promise I'll try to update more often, unless of course school puts the pressure on **

**So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**-ScottishLaura **

Johnston stood watching the commotion. He had learnt enough from Nero in the years previous that if there was one thing that captured people would try to do, it was escape through the sewers. Nero had been right about one thing. That there was no way to tell a captured person that there was no possible way of escape. He'd been right about two things actually. People escaping through sewers of course, and also desperate attempts to escape.

"Maybe you were a better teacher then I realised, Nero." He spat on Nero's unconscious body, and signaled that the guards take him away. He was dragged into a cargo room where Darkdoom was lying on the floor, bruised and battered, and Raven was handcuffed, lying on the floor further away. One guard was about to walk out when he decided to be extra cautious, and so he tightened the handcuffs until they were cutting Raven's skin, and then he tied her ankles together and using a spare length of rope, he tied the chain between the handcuffs to a metal chain secured to the floor. The guard grinned and kicked the 3 unconscious people in the room a little before he left. Once the door hissed closed, and Nero heard the lock activate, he sat up. He had never actually been unconscious, but he had made it look that way. Nero tried to push himself up, but he hissed when he put the tiniest amount of weight on his injured arm. He decided against sitting up, and he instead slid the length of the cargo hold on his side, and reached Darkdoom. His breathing was shallow, but his heartbeat was strong, so Nero left him and shuffled over to Raven. Raven was in a bad way. Nero could tell just by looking at her. She had a black eye which was turning a horrible shade of purple, she had grazes all up the left side of her face, some of it still bleeding a fair bit, there were more grazes down her arm, and only her long pants had saved her legs from the same treatment. Nero checked her pulse. It was very faint, and yet very fast. Raven's breathing was deep and even, but he was still worried. Nero was just about to collapse himself, he was extremely exhausted from trying to fight Johnston, so when he was able to get onto his back, he fell asleep, his uninjured arm reaching out towards Raven.

Johnston looked into the cargo hold, snorting when he saw Nero had moved. He signaled that a guard go in, and on his way in, he gave him some instructions.

"Tie him up, and Darkdoom too. Make sure you tie it tight around Nero's arm, just for good measure." The guard went in, and Johnston watched in glee as the guard clumsily sat Nero up, waking him up in the meantime, and clutching Nero's arm. The tied a rope around Nero's forearm and yanked it, jerking Nero backwards, and sending him into a fit of pain. Nero rolled into a ball and held his arm, but the guard would have none of it. The guard yanked on the rope, sending Nero howling again. After a few brutal attacks from the guard, Nero fell silent, yelling out only when his arm was touched. Soon, the guard had tied his arms and ankles together, and then tied the ropes through a metal chain secured to the floor, about 5 metres away from Raven. The guard kicked Nero a few more times for good measure before moving over to Darkdoom, and repeating the same process.

Nero and Darkdoom's cries of pain brought Raven out of her unconscious state. The first thing she noticed when she opened her eyes was the blood. It was everywhere. Her arms, her face, running into her eyes. It was even starting to pool on the floor between her and Nero. With a groan, she forced herself to sit up, not that that did any good. The world immediately began spinning and little black dots swam before her eyes. Nero looked up worriedly as she laid back down, the only thing that would stop her from passing out.

"You know, the party is almost preferable to this," Raven croaked. She realized a moment too late that Nero might be offended by her comment. He had only wanted her to have a bit of fun; he'd had no idea this was going to happen. But he just smiled, glad that she had even a miniscule sense of humor after all of this. And that she wasn't planning on strangling him.

Yet.

"As much as I love being chained to the floor," Darkdoom spoke from his corner. "I'm thinking that if we don't get out of here soon, bad things are going to happen."

"That's putting it mildly," Nero scoffed.

"So who has yet another plan?" Darkdoom persisted.

"Well whatever we do, it's not going to be easy," Raven tilted her head so that she could see both Darkdoom and Nero in the corners of her eyes. "This plane is crawling with guards, and even if we managed to get ourselves out of these chains, we have nowhere to go. We can't exactly walk out of the plane while it's in the air."

"So what, we wait until the plane lands? By then it will be too late!" Darkdoom was clearly exasperated. "I say we get unchained, and then unleash Natalya on them."

Raven started to say something, but Nero cut her off.

"Absolutely not! She's in no state to do something like that! Look at her, she can't even sit up straight!"

"That's not our problem Max! She's your employee. Her job is to keep her superiors safe. Just because you suddenly have a thing for her doesn't mean-"

"Shut up in there!" one of the guards yelled. Both Nero and Darkdoom shut up. Neither had realized it, but they had both been shouting at the top of their lungs.

"He's right Max," Raven forced herself to sit up. "It is my job. Maybe if I can just distract them for a few minutes..." she fell silent as Nero shot a scathing look at her.

"We'll figure something else out," he decided. "One that involves all of us escaping safely."

An entire hour passed. Nero and Darkdoom sat with their backs to each other, not saying a word. Raven leaned against the wall, watching them.

"You two are acting like you're five years old you know," she said, unable to take it anymore.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nero muttered, running his hands through his hair.

"Absolutely no idea," Darkdoom went to run his hands through his hair, before remembering he didn't have any.

Raven rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to slam her head against the wall. "I cannot believe you two!" Her hands clenched into fists. "You realize someone could come in here at any moment to execute us, and we don't even have the beginning of an escape plan!"

"Well I had a plan," Darkdoom proclaimed. "But someone refused to go along"

"Oh, we both know that would have failed!"

"Max!" Raven raised an eyebrow. "You didn't even let us try."

"And I don't plan on it either!"

Johnston walked in at that moment, a small smirk on his face.  
"Trouble in paradise?" he asked. "Well not to worry. Soon enough, you'll have nothing at all to worry about..."

Raven felt the plane angle downwards. "We're landing," she said.

"Ah, beautiful and smart. How very lucky I am," Johnston leaned towards Raven, until his face was a mere few inches from hers. "How very lucky indeed."

Raven spit in his face, and Johnston leaped backwards in surprise. She would have laughed if the situation had not been so terribly serious.

"Feisty," he muttered to himself. "All the better." Then louder, "Oh don't worry Raven. You'll love me one day." He turned on his heel and left.

Nero was practically shaking with fury as Johnston disappeared. "I don't believe him!" he thundered.

"I do," Raven sighed. Nero turned to her, fury temporarily replaced by confusion.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, he has gone to all of this trouble to capture us and hold us hostage on this plane. It takes a decent amount of planning. Not to mention the party to lure us there. If he's done all that, I just don't have a hard time believing that he would try to get me, too."

"Well whatever he has planned for Max and I, sounds like you might survive this. He didn't seem to have any intention of killing you, Natalya."

"Death would be preferable to him," Raven spat.

"Be careful what you say, my dear. It just might come true." Nero laid a hand on Raven's arm. They just looked at each other for a few moments before Darkdoom cleared his throat.

"Hate to disturb you," he said. "But it appears that we have landed."

**Don't forget to review! And if I don't update often, bug me about it ****  
-ScottishLaura**


	8. Mysterious People? Bad News?

**A/N: Hello, all fellow RavenXNero fans out there. Sorry for taking so long to update, I really have no excuse, except for the fact I suffer from extreme laziness. So, we have an update for you. Hopefully you like it, after all the waiting you've done. **

**-ScottishLaura and Ravenswrath.**

Three guards walked in, and after clumsily walking over Nero's injured arm, stepping all over Raven, and "tripping" over Darkdoom, they eventually roughly pulled the three of them to their feet, and dragged them to the passenger area. Johnston was standing there, smiling, and when one guard shoved Raven to the floor, he rushed forwards, and helped her up.

"You there," He gestured to the guard that had pushed Raven to the floor. "Why so violent to the lovely lady?" The guard didn't respond, and Johnston tried to help Raven to her feet. She shook his hand away from hers, and pushed herself up. She stood, and walked unsteadily back over to Nero and Darkdoom. She began to lose her balance when she stopped moving, and she began to fall backwards. Nero caught her, and then as Nero staggered under the sudden weight change, Darkdoom reached forward, supported Nero, and then took Raven's weight off him. The three of them stood, Nero had his arm over Raven's shoulder, Raven was leaning on him, and Darkdoom was standing there, looking awkward. Johnston ordered the guards towards them, and they pulled Nero's arms back hard behind him, ignoring his cries of pain as they tightened handcuffs behind his back. Raven took an abrupt step backwards as she began to lose her balance, and she leant against the wall. One guard grinned and walked towards Raven, handcuffs ready in his hands. When Raven stood up again, the guard grabbed her hands and put the cuffs on. He tightened them, and then decided to keep tightening them tighter and tighter until the skin surrounding Ravens wrists were a lot paler then normal. The guard pushed her to the floor again, and this time, Raven couldn't even get back to her feet. A guard knelt down next to Raven, and she felt something being pressed into her skull. She knew immediately that it was a gun, and she closed her eyes. A zapping noise came from the gun, and Raven fell limp, unconscious on the floor of the plane. Nero narrowed his eyes at Johnston.

"Makes her easier to deal with," he said, carelessly. A guard came and clumsily picked Raven up, slinging her over his shoulder. Another one came behind Nero, shoving him to his knees, aiming a similar gun to the one that had knocked Raven out at Nero's back. The guard fired, and Nero collapsed to the floor. The same treatment was given to Darkdoom. Johnston laughed. Evilly. The guards picked the three unconscious people up, taking them off the Shroud. The guards loaded the three of them in the back of a truck, and then climbed into the passenger cabin. Inside the back of the truck, Nero woke up. He blearily crawled over to Raven, and put an arm over her shoulder. He pulled her up to a sitting position where she slowly began to wake up. She looked around briefly, and then spoke.

"Far out, what happened?" Nero smiled.

"Johnston decided we were easier to deal with when we had a sleeper in our backs." Raven smiled.  
"Is he OK?" She gestured to Darkdoom, who was lying spread-eagled on the floor.

"He's fine. He just got shot too." Raven nodded, and slowly slid down slightly, so her head was looking to the roof of the truck.

"Any other time, I would have been able to escape. But now." She sighed, Nero shifted over to comfort her.  
"Natalya, any other time we wouldn't be in this situation. There was nothing you could do. It's my fault." Raven frowned.

"I'm supposed to protect you, though." Silence fell.

The middle of nowhere. They were in the middle of nowhere. This wasn't an uncommon concept for secret layers, but this kind of middle of nowhere was the worst kind. There was nothing but sand and sun, no water in sight. No buildings or even a lone cactus.

Raven thought back to the Dreadnought, and Jason Drake's secret base in Nevada. That had been in the middle of the desert too, but at least they had known that Las Vegas was out there somewhere. Here they knew nothing. They could be in Africa, with no civilization for hundreds of miles. This was not a comforting thought.

Guards had come to retrieve them, and they were now being shoved down the ramp onto the sandy desert floor. None of the three were in very great shape, Nero's arm hung limp at his side, Raven could barely stand, and Darkdoom was already dehydrated. The world swam before his eyes, and sweat was streaming down his bald head. The guards laughed when they saw this. "Can't take the heat Darkdoom?" the guard nearest him asked. "I would have expected better from the head of the G.L.O.V.E. ruling council. Then again," the guard pushed Darkdoom ever so slightly, and he fell to his knees panting, "we always knew you were weak." All of the guards erupted into hysterics as Darkdoom tried to get up, but couldn't. Nero and Raven watched this, powerless to do anything.

"Johnston is going to rot in hell." Nero growled.

"Let me be the one to send him there," Raven replied, equally furious. It was at this moment that they both realized their captor was mysteriously absent. "He got off the plane," Raven muttered, but the statement came out sounding more like a question.

"He walked out ahead of us. I'm sure of it." Nero frowned, although neither of them was sure, really.

"Perhaps he crawled under a rock and died." An evil little grin appeared on Raven's face.

"I'm afraid my dear that there are no rocks to crawl under," Nero sighed, but he smiled too. He, like Darkdoom, was beginning to become dehydrated, as he felt more than a little dizzy. He would never say this out loud, especially to Natalya, but he was almost certain that they had reached the end. The unmistakable sound of a gun firing only further proved the theory. Raven, on the other hand, was standing a little straighter, craning her neck in order to see over the head of the guard in front of her. When she turned back to Nero, a Cheshire Cat smile was spread across her face.

"Those aren't Johnston's men."

Nero stood on his toes. Sure enough, two men were running across the desert, firing bullets at the guards with incredible accuracy. The one standing in front of Raven and Nero dropped to the ground, blood flowing out of his chest. Some of the guards managed to get their guns out of their holsters, and one or two managed to fire a bullet, but they all missed. In the space of no more than two minutes, eleven guards were dead on the desert floor. The two men, on the other hand, were completely unharmed.

"Such poor excuses for guards," the first man to reach them sighed, kicking the guard that had been standing in front of Raven and Nero. The man had shoulder length black hair that covered one eye, and snakebites. His partner caught up to him, slightly more winded. He had curly blond hair and big blue eyes. If not for the jagged scar that ran horizontally across his forehead, Nero would never guess that he was a professional assassin, if he hadn't seen him shoot a gun.

The man walked over to Raven, Nero and Darkdoom.  
"Are you OK?" He checked the three of them quickly for major injuries. He was checking Nero's arm when Nero cried out in pain.  
"Are you OK?" Nero just nodded. The guy called his friend over.  
"Joe, come and check out this guys arm," The guys friend ran over, and sat Nero down, carefully.

"Put your arm in the air, gently." Nero slowly raised his arm.  
"Can you move your fingers?" Nero tried. He shook his head.  
"No."  
"Can you move your elbow?" Nero tried. He was able to bend it to a 45 degree angle before the pain kicked in.  
"To about there." The friend nodded.  
"OK. Can you tell me what happened?" Nero frowned.  
"There was a fight, and a baton got swung at me, so I reflexively stuck my arm out." The friend nodded.  
"OK. Put your arm down now." Nero followed, and he was soon clutching his arm to his side again.  
"Right. Now I'm going to put a splint on, just for the time being, and a bandage, and I need you to promise me that you won't move it." Nero nodded. He let the man gently take his arm, and do what he said he was. Meanwhile, Raven and Darkdoom were both sitting down, about to pass out. The assassin offered the pair some water, and after Darkdoom had drunken some, he was looking better. Raven on the other hand was still getting worse; she had lost a lot of blood throughout the past day.

The man with the snakebites frowned, walking over to Raven. He knelt down beside her, perhaps a bit closer than was necessary, and began to check her over.

"I don't like this," he sighed. "She needs a transfusion. "Looks like we're going to have to take her to a hospital."

"No!" Nero exclaimed. Both men turned to look at him, clearly puzzled. "There aren't any hospitals anywhere near here," he added quickly. The two men might have just saved their lives, but that didn't mean they needed to know the real reason Raven couldn't be taken to a hospital. She would have no records, not even a birth certificate, and it wouldn't be long before the doctors started asking questions. These kinds of things could be faked, but there was no time for that now.

"He's right Jake," Joe sighed. "There's nothing here."

"Perhaps someone would like to tell us where "here" is?" Darkdoom asked. He was ignored.

"What's our supply of blood like?" Jake asked Joe, who was clearly the medical expert.

"We have a bit of each type in the freezer," Joe said slowly. "Problem is, we don't know what her blood type is. And I don't have the equipment to perform a blood test."

"I know my own blood type," Raven's croaked. Darkdoom turned to look at her, a worried look on his face.

"The sooner she gets that blood the better."

"Agreed. We'll fly the Shroud back to the base," Joe took charge. "Jake, carry her in." Jake easily scooped Raven off the desert floor, a pleased smile on his face. Nero glowered at him, but didn't say a word.


	9. Authors Note

Hi guys!

I'm so, so, so very sorry that I haven't updated anything in ages… And to come with excuses – I've been extremely busy with my exams/upper school stuff and my Grandma has been in and out of hospital. So yes. I will work very hard to update something soon, but in less then 3 months, school will be finished for the year, and I'll have no excuse for not writing. So if I haven't updated in another 3 months, bug me until I do! :)

You guys are awesome!

-Scottie


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